First grow ever. CFL. Need input :)

Weedotron

Weedotron

Member
Hey Rollitup. Here is my plan:

Plants:
- I have 10 seeds. I plan to initially germinate 6, and keep however many females I get. The other 4 can be backups / for the future.

Cupboard:
- Approx 1m x 2m x 0.6m (Width, Height, Depth)
- Inside is freshly painted white for reflectivity

Lighting:
- I have a lighting strip, suspended by chain, with room for 6 bulbs. I can adjust the height easily to keep it close to the foliage

- I have not yet bought the bulbs

I know I need ~6500K for veg, and ~2700K for flowering. Should I exclusively use those colours for those stages of growth or would I be better to mix?

What wattage per bulb is best here? I can get 23W for $7, or fork out $16 for 45W in either temp. As much as possible I want to save money, so will 6x23W do it or do I need some 45's, or ALL 45's?

Fan:
- I have a large room fan (not bought for this purpose). Hesitantly planning to have it running on a low setting while the lights are also on, both to keep the air in the cupboard fresh and to buffet the plants to toughen them up. Is this wise?
- I could use computer fans and a phone charger to make low-power intake/exhaust if necessary. Is that necessary?

Nutrients:
- I plan to feed my plants with diluted, unsulphured, blackstrap mollasses. How often should I feed? should it be with every water or just some?

Is there a better alternative to mollasses?

Timeline:
- Germinate seeds, in Jiffy Pellets, in a seedling container with a humidity top, in my Hot water cupboard
- Once they are seedlings, transplant to largeish buckets and put in cupboard
- Use appropriate lighting schedule for Vegging (???)
- When they are near to maxing out the cupboard's size, switch to flowering bulbs/schedule
- Sweet harvest

Questions:
- What bulbs, exactly, would be best in the 6 sockets I have available?
- What on/off schedule is best for the lighting? for vegging, flowering, and any other stage i'm not aware of
- Roughly how long should I expect to vegg for? and flower for?

Thanks in advance. And feel free to add any kind of constructive feedback whether or not I asked for it above.

Ps: Yes I am using CFL's. Please don't tell me to get an HPS/MH/LEDs


~~Weedotron~~
 
0calli

0calli

Well-Known Member
ok im going to answer all this for you best i can as i grew cfl also and learned alot just gimme some time
Weedotron said:
Hey Rollitup. Here is my plan:

Plants:
- I have 10 seeds. I plan to initially germinate 6, and keep however many females I get. The other 4 can be backups / for the future.

Cupboard:
- Approx 1m x 2m x 0.6m (Width, Height, Depth)
- Inside is freshly painted white for reflectivity

Lighting:
- I have a lighting strip, suspended by chain, with room for 6 bulbs. I can adjust the height easily to keep it close to the foliage

- I have not yet bought the bulbs

I know I need ~6500K for veg, and ~2700K for flowering. Should I exclusively use those colours for those stages of growth or would I be better to mix?

What wattage per bulb is best here? I can get 23W for $7, or fork out $16 for 45W in either temp. As much as possible I want to save money, so will 6x23W do it or do I need some 45's, or ALL 45's?

Fan:
- I have a large room fan (not bought for this purpose). Hesitantly planning to have it running on a low setting while the lights are also on, both to keep the air in the cupboard fresh and to buffet the plants to toughen them up. Is this wise?
- I could use computer fans and a phone charger to make low-power intake/exhaust if necessary. Is that necessary?

Nutrients:
- I plan to feed my plants with diluted, unsulphured, blackstrap mollasses. How often should I feed? should it be with every water or just some?

Is there a better alternative to mollasses?

Timeline:
- Germinate seeds, in Jiffy Pellets, in a seedling container with a humidity top, in my Hot water cupboard
- Once they are seedlings, transplant to largeish buckets and put in cupboard
- Use appropriate lighting schedule for Vegging (???)
- When they are near to maxing out the cupboard's size, switch to flowering bulbs/schedule
- Sweet harvest

Questions:
- What bulbs, exactly, would be best in the 6 sockets I have available?
- What on/off schedule is best for the lighting? for vegging, flowering, and any other stage i'm not aware of
- Roughly how long should I expect to vegg for? and flower for?

Thanks in advance. And feel free to add any kind of constructive feedback whether or not I asked for it above.

Ps: Yes I am using CFL's. Please don't tell me to get an HPS/MH/LEDs


~~Weedotron~~
Click to expand...
 
0calli

0calli

Well-Known Member
ok first for lighting your going to need alot more than 6 bulbs the rule of thumb i learned with cfl's is 100 true watts for the first plant and the 50w for every other one so say you get 6 females youll need if they are household cfl's at 23w 5 for the first and then 2 more for each so in total youll have to buy 15 or if they are 43w 3 for the first plant and 3 every 2 plants so youll need 11 in tottal.

ok for lumens or K's 6500k is ideal but 5000k is fine for vegging and i wouldnt bother mixing and matching the light spectrums and yes 2700 k for flowering but the rules above applies to both veg 18/6 and flower 12/12


now a quick bowl and then next
 
0calli

0calli

Well-Known Member
Fan:
- I have a large room fan (not bought for this purpose). Hesitantly planning to have it running on a low setting while the lights are also on, both to keep the air in the cupboard fresh and to buffet the plants to toughen them up. Is this wise? yes this is wise and start on low and work your way up as they grow
- I could use computer fans and a phone charger to make low-power intake/exhaust if necessary. Is that necessary? no the big fan should suffice as if there is no air current toxins can buildup on the leaves and the breeze gets rid of them
 
0calli

0calli

Well-Known Member
Nutrients:
- I plan to feed my plants with diluted, unsulphured, blackstrap mollasses. How often should I feed? should it be with every water or just some? dont use this during veg only during flower 12/12 and 2 tbl spoons per gallon every other watering

Is there a better alternative to mollasses?yes there are nutrii=ents you can buy like GH general hydroponics or AN advanced nutrients etc there are lots
 
0calli

0calli

Well-Known Member
Questions:
- What bulbs, exactly, would be best in the 6 sockets I have available?the 45 watt ones if all your sticking to is 6 sockets
- What on/off schedule is best for the lighting? for vegging, flowering, and any other stage i'm not aware of18/6 for veg and 12/12 for flower or you can 12/12 from seed less electricity but i belive lesser of a yeild
- Roughly how long should I expect to vegg for? and flower for?veg time is usually 4 - 5 weeks and flower depends on strain if its indica or sativa it can go anywhere from 7 weeks to ive seen 12 weeks

so i hope this helps you add me or pm me if you got mor questions also i have albums of the white widow and ak-48 medical i did using cfl up to 4 weeks into flower then i switched to the 1000w and god damn i glad i did
Thanks in advance. And feel free to add any kind of constructive feedback whether or not I asked for it above.

Ps: Yes I am using CFL's. Please don't tell me to get an HPS/MH/LEDs ohh and you should try hps dont need mH lol jjk rep me for this if it helps you its the star between the journal this post and the caution symbol
 
Weedotron

Weedotron

Member
Hey, thanks for all the feedback so far :)

My seeds are not feminized so I expect to get 3 females. It's possible I could get 6 fems but i'd be pretty lucky lol. So 100W for the first plant and 50W each after.. in that case I will definitely get 45W's.. which would be ~270W from 6 bulbs. I could add lighting in the form of a standalone lamp or 2 if I find myself with an unexpectedly high female count, but yeah I am expecting to have 3 plants when all's said and done.

I've looked into LST and it intruiges me, but since this is my first grow ever I was just going to keep it basic... I'm all about following good advice though. Is it worth messing around with on my first go?
 
0calli

0calli

Well-Known Member
i did it my first grow with no problem i even completly snapped a stem and it fixed iteself and topping is so very easy it just give you alot more room for buds and topping will give you 2-4 main colas instead of 1
 
Weedotron

Weedotron

Member
Alright then, LST is officially on my to-do list, and I'll start looking into better nutrients

Thanks, and I +rep'd :)
 
Rusty Cuyler

Rusty Cuyler

Member
0calli said:
ok first for lighting your going to need alot more than 6 bulbs the rule of thumb i learned with cfl's is 100 true watts for the first plant and the 50w for every other one so say you get 6 females youll need if they are household cfl's at 23w 5 for the first and then 2 more for each so in total youll have to buy 15 or if they are 43w 3 for the first plant and 3 every 2 plants so youll need 11 in tottal.

ok for lumens or K's 6500k is ideal but 5000k is fine for vegging and i wouldnt bother mixing and matching the light spectrums and yes 2700 k for flowering but the rules above applies to both veg 18/6 and flower 12/12


now a quick bowl and then next
Click to expand...
Why do u need 100w for the first plant and then 50w for every other? It's not like one plant is goin to steal light from a bulb, or take in more than the other.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top